20031202

2.34.4787 Republic Reckoning

A little while after the crash landing, Marosia decides that we're going to go hide in the nearby mountain until the Jedi arrive. As we start out, we are suddenly ambushed by 7 Sith attack droids. In the first volley, Altair is gunned down and Nakael is shot in the back. Dabai blows one droid to hell and quickly salvages a recoilless heavy rifle. Marosia charges across the field of fire with Greater Force shield, and cuts one into very small pieces.

Quindo runs out to rescue Altair, he and Bro'jen escort the wounded Knight back to the ship under heavy fire. Both Bro'jen and Quindo take a few small caliber rounds in their flack vests, without injury. Torryn tries to use the ship's turreted laser, but doesn't get it powered up in time. Nakael, pissed at being wounded, calls on the Dark Side and begins tossing droids into the air and crushing them where they stand. Dabai shoots the one he blew up again, before it can repair itself.

Bro'jen, Arvandus, and Quindo coordinate together to attack one droid. I think Marosia gets a second one, and Nakael destroys the rest. Bad Nakael, No Dark Side.

When the battle is done and we're catching our collective breaths, Dabai overhears the Hutts on his military comms. They're going to orbitally bombard the area to keep the droids from reforming. They offer to "extract" us from the planet. We are conspicuously silent, but we get the hell out of the area fast.

Nakael wants to join his Master, who will be arriving on a distant mountain peak in just 4 days. Marosia still wants to hide. Quindo wants to take the fight to the Sith. We vote. "All in favor if sticking it to those bastard Sith?" In the end, 4 to 3 vote in favor of following Nakael to the other Sith and doing something about them. Quindo wants to wrest control of the droids away from the Sith and turn them against each other. At'!'tchk had the droid controller when we last saw it, so we need to find him.

We encounter a small village. Nakael offers to find out if they're hostile, but Dabai distracts him with a "Sith Courting Manual" (romance novel). Nakael uses the Dark Side to activate cognitive trance and reads the novel really fast. We're not entirely sure where Dabai got it. Meanwhile, Bro'jen, Quindo, and Dabai go talk to the villagers.

Seems that there are some patrols nearby, but the human slaves are willing to help us. They direct us on a safe path around the village where we find a convenient place to camp for the night.

2.35.4787 Republic Reckoning

We travel through the desert for 2 days and into the mountains.

3.2.4787 Republic Reckoning

We evade a droid patrol or two. Belesarius arrives tomorrow at DAWN. We plan to stagger watches with Emptiness to prepare for tomorrow, then leave 3 hours before dawn to prepare an ambush. Nobody objects to making a pre-emptive strike against Belesarius. "But remember, use the Force for knowledge and defense only, never attack. That's what your lightsabers are for."

3.3.4787 Republic Reckoning

Nakael won't get out of bed because his Master isn't coming. Apparently he's been delayed, searching for a Sith artifact called the "Heart of Darkness". In the meantime, we start making plans to confront the other Sith on this planet, and convince Nakael that he wants to go study on Coruscant.